A meteorite that caused a massive boom over Cape Cod may have landed in the bay, NASA has revealed.
New England residents were rocked shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday when a meteor fragmented at 40 miles over northeast Massachusetts and southeast New Hampshire, NASA said in a statement shared by the media.
“The energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT, which accounts for the loud noise,” NASA explained.
The meteor became a meteorite when it hit Earth rather than just burning up. NASA believes the space rock fell in the middle of Cape Cod Bay, in an event the agency dubbed a “fishy squisher.”
With the meteorite falling into 100 feet of water and likely having magnetic properties, a space rock hunter can recover it.
“Most meteorites are strongly attracted to a magnet, and these ones are within reach of a 100' length of rope dangled off of a boat. In case anyone is interested in such factoids,” NASA said on its website.
The Independent has reached out to NASA for updates on the meteorite.
Several New Englanders shared videos with the media of loud booms that thundered through their homes, with one Newton, Massachusetts, resident describing how his entire house began to shake.
“It literally felt like someone was slamming all our doors in the house at once,” Manny Kharasch told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “Whatever that shock wave was, was enough to literally move things.”
The meteorite’s impact wasn’t just limited to New England.
Robert Lunsford from the American Meteor Society said the nonprofit received dozens of reports from Delaware to Montreal of people hearing a boom, feeling the ground shake or seeing a fireball in the sky, per the Associated Press.
NASA said the meteorite was a natural object, not a satellite or space debris.
